Welcome to Sherwood State School.
Here at Sherwood we have the good fortune of having a very supportive school community, one that values a quality education and one that is willing to exemplify the necessary home and school partnership in education. Our students are polite, kind and curious and come to us with a range of diverse backgrounds.
Our staff, both teaching and non-teaching, have a collective strong moral purpose when it comes to valuing and nurturing children, and of course a strong commitment to delivering a quality education for all students. We are all very proud of our school and this is why we continually strive to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of all students.
Our team continues to deepen their knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the Australian Curriculum, a curriculum that has given us a clear and consistent pathway. Our school also implements the GRR (Gradual Release of Responsibility) model in all classrooms. Our core focus on this relevant and effective pedagogy ensures consistency of practice within every classroom, and this enables our learning to become familiar with the language of this model and their roles as learners.
As principal of Sherwood SS – I truly believe in our mantra that every child matters in every classroom, every day.
This belief has allowed us to focus on the importance of building fantastic foundations for our students in the early years. Sherwood is a high performing school, and the academic success of our students is very important for us, but it is not our first focus.
We believe it is important for us to focus on the whole child. A whole-child approach to teaching and learning supports and nurtures all areas of a child's development and learning–from social-emotional and cognitive skills to literacy, math, and science understanding. It is a powerful strategy which supports our littlest learners as they transition to 'big school' from early childhood settings.
Here at Sherwood we have developed a cohesive, collective and collaborative approach in our early years that aims to improve student learning, supports positive student behaviour and most importantly it is an approach that focuses on the social and emotional wellbeing of each our little people. Our staff work diligently to ensure we have a safe and caring school environment.
For us, we aim for school to be an environment where students:
- can feel positively connected each other,
- feel respected and learn how to show respect,
- and through feedback they believe their ideas and work are meaningful.
We believe the combining of all of these aspects helps students to always try their best, see themselves as learners and believe they are good at what they do, with each aspect key for students reach their potential.
The outcomes we see are happy little learners, who love their teachers, build great friendships and who are excited to come to school each day.
Our extra-curricular offerings such as the sports program, arts program, environmental education program, and extension and enrichment program (including the instrumental music program) add to the quality education available to students at this school.
We have a diverse range of students who are well catered for by various programs such as
- The EALD (English as an Additional Language and Dialect) program,
- The Inclusion Team which encompasses the Leaning Support Program,
- LOTE (Chinese) program,
- And all Signature Practices within The Early Years Program.
Our school's facilities provide a wonderful learning environment for all students. The new multi-purpose hall, swimming pool, our oval, and our playgrounds are all fantastic features of our school.
An integral component of the school ethos is the capacity-building and values education program, "You Can Do It".
The You Can Do It! Education Program (YCDI!) for children is a whole-school approach to social and emotional learning. It was developed in Australia at the University of Melbourne by psychologist Professor Michael Bernard. The program provides us with a consistent language to teach students a number of different skills that they need to know in order to be happy and successful in school and experience positive relationships.
At Sherwood State School, the Five Keys to Success (Confidence, Persistence, Organisation, Getting Along and Resilience) are explicitly taught in each classroom. The YCDI! programme teaches positive attitudes, social-emotional skills, character strengths and values based on the science of wellbeing and achievement.
For parent information about YCDI!, please visit: https://www.youcandoiteducation.com.au/parents/
We also have been working with our students parents and staff to grow and value our sense of community by building 'kindness' into our Sherwood Way, and we strive to help our students understand that part of being kind, is making a choice to 'pay it forward' to others whenever we can. Our parents and community model this ethos within our school and beyond our gate, ensuring staff are supported to continue to build student understanding of the impact their kind words and kind ways can have on others.
Parents are encouraged to become part of the school community through many forums, events and activities. Communication between home and school is vital and we value the essential home-school partnership for improving learning outcomes.
While we believe 'All state schools are great schools". Should you enrol your child at Sherwood State School, we strongly believe you will have made an excellent choice. Click here to go on a virtual tour of our school.